CHANDIGARH: Punjab Ekta Party president and rebel AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira has announced to contest from Bathinda Lok Sabha seat. He will contest as joint candidate of Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) which has six political parties on board.
He said that in case Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal changed her constituency to Ferozepur from Bathinda then Simarjeet Bains of the Lok Insaaf Party could contest against her from there.
He said though the Ferozepur seat had been allocated to the CPI as alliance partner, Bains had shown interest there so they would sit together to change the CPI’s seat.
Khaira trashed the oft-repeated claims of Harsimrat Badal that they had done a lot of development for the Bathinda area saying that while executing development works the Badals have also eaten huge amounts of government money as commission.
He said that the Badals misused the public exchequer to link Badal village from Bathinda with a four lane road and their seven star hotel at Pallanpur in New Chandigarh with a six lane access for value addition of their properties, while the link roads of ordinary villages are in a shattered condition and the main link to the capital city of Chandigarh from Sirhind-Chunni-Landran-Mohali is still a single road.
He dared both Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal to a live open debate at a place and time of their choice to discuss the burning issues of Punjab and Bathinda. He said let Bathinda be a model constituency of India where such live debates should decide the faith of electorate like the developed countries of the world.
He appealed to SAD Taksali leader Ranjit Singh Brahampura to withdraw their candidate JJ Singh from Khadoor Sahib to support PDA candidate Paramjit Kaur Khalra. They were ready to compensate them with another seat, he added.